Due process: What it means in US law and its implications for migrant rights
A core principle of the U.S. justice system is that the government must act in accordance with the rule of law. arsenisspyros, iStock Getty Images As the United States edges up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration...
How wind and solar power helps keep America’s farms alive
About 60% of Iowas power comes from wind. Farmers can earn extra cash by leasing small sections of farms for power production. Bill Clark/Getty Images Drive through the plains of Iowa or Kansas and youll see more than rows...
Why government support for religion doesn’t necessarily make people more religious
History offers plenty of lessons about what happens when governments support faith groups and it doesnt always help them. cosmonaut/iStock via Getty Images Plus The IRS will offer religious congregations more freedom to...

Mountains of fire: what hillwalking with my father taught me about the origins of oil exploration
Far over the misty mountains cold, Dad read. Every evening before my light was turned out, he read me a story about a hobbit who left his comfortable burrow to journey to the Lonely Mountain. Searching for gold at the...

My new history of romanticism shows how enslavement shaped European culture
According to one strand of history, slavery was abolished when Europeans found their conscience. According to another, it was abolished when it stopped being profitable. Both approaches tend to underplay the significance...

Street lamps aren’t the only form of artificial light pollution – here’s how to create darker nights
Without a view of the stars at night, Don McLean would never have been able to write Vincent and Vincent van Gogh would not have painted Starry Night. Viewing a sky full of stars is part of what makes us human. The light...

Older adults who follow healthy diets accumulate chronic diseases more slowly – new study
Imagine two people in their 70s. Both are active, live independently and enjoy life. But over the next 15 years, one of them develops two or three chronic illnesses heart disease, diabetes, depression while the other...